Button sewing device and chute therefor



Jan. 16, 1968 l. MEDOFF 3,363,592

BUTTON SEWING DEVICE AND CHUTE THEREFOR Filed Aug. 25, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BY WK/MecM ATTORNEY Jan. 16, 1968 l. MEDOFF BUTTON SEWING DEVICE AND CHUTE THEREFOR 2 sheets sheet 2 INVENTOR IRVING MDOFF Filed Aug. 25, 1965 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,363,592 BUTTON SEWING DEVICE AND CHUTE THEREFOR Irving Medotf, Flushing, N.Y., assignor to Emsig Manufacturing (10., New York, N.Y., a partnership Filed Aug. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 482,400 1 Claim. (Cl. 112-113) ABSTRACT ()F THE DISCLGSURE A button sewing apparatus for use with a button sewing machine having a presser foot shiftable in a vertical plane for connecting and guiding buttons fed from an elevated hopper to said presser foot, comprising a segmented guideway including an upper guideway segment extending downwardly and rearwardly from the hopper, an intermediate guideway segment forwardly and downwardly inclined and having its upper end connected to the lower end of the upper guideway segment, and a lower guide- Way segment extending upwardly from the presser foot having its upper end connected to the lower end of the intermediate segment, the segments being pivotally connected at their junctions, means being provided to maintain the segments in coplanar alignment at said junctions, the noted orientation of the segments to each other being such that the upward and downward movement of the presser foot induces a rotational movement of the hopper substantially in a horizontal plane.

This invention relates to a button sewing device, and more particularly to a device for sewing shank buttons.

This invention further relates to a button sewing device which includes a hopper, a sewing machine having a presser foot and a chute leading from the hopper to the presser foot.

It is well known to provide as an attachment for the usual button sewing machine having a vertically shiftable presser foot, a hopper and chute construction whereby buttons oriented in the hopper are led to the presser foot in position to be sewn. Preferably the hopper has a large capacity so that frequent refilling thereof is not necessary.

In certain patented devices of this type, such as for instance Troll United States Patents Nos. 2,597,912, 2,661,709 and 2,830,549, there are shown button sewing machines wherein the hopper is rigidly connected to and moves with the presser foot. In such devices, the presser foot mechanism must lift the weight of the hopper in addition to the weight of the presser foot. Since the presser foot lift mechanism of the sewing machine is not intended to carry weights of any considerable magnitude, it was necessary to employ, in conjunction with such machines, a light, and hence low capacity, hopper. Alternatively, where use of a high capacity hopper was imperative, auxiliary powerized devices were employed to implement the lifting force of the sewing machine mechanism.

In United States Patent No. 3,151,586 to Medoff et al., there is shown a novel chute construction wherein lifting movement of the presser foot does not lift the hopper but, rather, the movement of the presser foot is accommodated by a telescoping of the chute which links the hopper to the presser foot. While the device of said last named patent is effective in a measure, in that it permits the use of a high capacity hopper, the same has certain drawbacks. Specifically, there is an occasional tendency for buttons to become jammed in the telescoping portions of the chute, particularly if the device is used with poorly calibrated buttons, or where unskilled mechanics, unfamiliar with the workings of the chute, attempt to service it.

Further, I have discovered that in a measure it is desir- 3,363,592 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 able for the hopper to move when the presser foot moves since such transmitted movement is often effective as an aid in agitating and consequently orienting the buttons in the hopper.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a button sewing apparatus, particularly for shank buttons, wherein a large capacity hopper is linked to the presser foot of a button sewing machine by a novel chute mechanism, whereby the weight of the hopper is not applied to the presser foot when the same is lifted and lowered but, rather, where the movement of the presser foot during both its upward and downward, and side to side movement, is transmitted to the hopper.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a large capacity hopper, chute construction and button sewing machine wherein the hopper is carried by a support for pivotal movement in a horizontal plane, and wherein the chute construction is so designed as to translate the up and down or side to side movement of the presser foot into a desired pivotal movement of the hopper.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, maintenance-free chute construction for a device of the class described.

To attain these objects and such further objects as may appear herein or be hereinafter pointed out, I make reference to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a hopper, sewing machine and chute in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a magnified view taken in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIGURE 1, showing the position Ff the chute parts in the lowered position of the presser oot;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, showing the position of the chute parts in the raised position of the presser foot;

FIGURE 4 is a magnified section taken on the zig-zag line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of FIG- URE 4;

FIGURES 6 and 7 are schematic plan views of the hopper and chute components, respectively in the lowered and raised positions of the presser foot.

In accordance with the invention, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a button sewing apparatus comprising generally a sewing machine 10, a hopper 11 and a chute 12 leading from the exit aperture of the hopper to the presser foot 13 of the button sewing machine. The hopper 11 is supported at an elevated position by a standard 14 having a base 15 made fast to the work surface 16 which additionally supports the sewing machine 10.

As is conventional for sewing machines of the type herein referred to, the presser foot 13 rises after each sewing operation, during which time a button is properly positioned in the end of the guideway section carried by the presser foot. In such devices, a garment is positioned beneath the presser foot and the presser foot is thereafter lowered to grip the garment during the sewing operation.

In the present device, the presser foot 13 moves arcuately and in a substantially vertical plane in the course of shifting from the raised to the lowered position and back. In certain types of sewing machines, as is well known, there is an additional side to side shifting of the presser r foot during sewing, it being understood that the present device is useful both wtih this type of sewing machine and the type wherein the presser foot is fixed during thesewing cycle and the sewing machine needle makes selective strokes in laterally offset lines.

In accordance with the invention, the hopper 11 may include any suitable button orienting mechanism capable of taking randomly positioned shank buttons from the bulk supply within the hopper, and orienting the buttons within the chute 12. In the present embodiment, the standand 14, and preferably includes anti-friction bearings to the under surface of the hopper 11. The sleeve 17 permits at least a rotary movement of the hopper about the standard 14, and preferably includes anti-friction bearings to facilitate such movement.

A downwardly directed chute segment 20 has its upper end 21 fixed to the hopper adjacent the exit throat aperture 22 of the hopper. Optionally but preferably, where the device is to be used for feeding shank buttons, the chute, substantially throughout its entire length, may comprise a back plate 23 and spaced apart front plates 24, 24a, the last mentioned plates defining a slot 25 therebetween through which the shank of the buttons may be projected. Since the shank is made non-circular in section, the shank is prevented from rotation by the plates or walls 24, 24a. The sewing holes H in the buttons are so positioned as to lie beyond the portions of the shank which project through the plates 24, 24a, thereby to make these holes accessible to the sewing machine needle.

To the lowermost end 26 of the upper chute segment 20, there is fastened an intermediate chute segment 27, the lower end 28 of which is fixed to the upper end 2? of the lowermost chute segment 30. The lowermost segment 30 is fixed to the presser foot 13 and is raised and lowered with the latter.

The lowermost end 26 of the upper chute section is preferably not linear, but the ends thereof are slightly beveled or cut away so that the side edges 26a, 26a of the chute section adjacent the lowermost edge taper downwardly toward the center. In a similar fashion, the side edges 31a, 31a of the upper end 31 of the intermediate section taper upwardly toward the center portion.

It will be seen that by reason of the tapers aforesaid, clearance areas are defined at the side portions between the lowermost end of the upper chute section and the uppermost end of the intermediate chute segment, such clearance areas permitting these sections to articulate one with respect to the other.

The back plate 23 of the uppermost chute section, adjacent the lower end 26 thereof, is provided with an arcuate recess 26b, as best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3. The uppermost end of the intermediate chute segment is provided with a complemental, projecting, parti-circular portion 31b nested within the recess 26b.

A mounting plate 32 is made fast to the back plate 23 at the lower end of the upper chute section, the plate, at its lower end, being provided with a bearing aperture 34, the center of which aperture is aligned with the center of the projecting portion 31b of the intermediate chute segment. A hearing bolt 35 is threadedly connected into the projecting portion 31b of the intermediate chute segment, the bolt including a cylindrical collar portion 36 which passes through and is free to pivot within the bearing aperture 34.

It is important to note that at least the lowermost end of the upper chute section and the upper end of the intermediate chute section are disposed in coplanar align- :ment. The uppermost end 29 of the lower chute segment 30 is similarly pivotally connected to the lower end 28 of the intermediate section. The mating portions of the lower and intermediate segments are likewise disposed in coplanar alignment, one or both of the end portions of such segments being angularly cut away so as to provide a clearance to permit the two sections to articulate through a plurality of angular positions with respect to each other and in the same plane.

As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the depending upper chute section 26 extends essentially downwardly and slightly rearwardly from the hopper. The intermediate chute section extends forwardly from the lowermost end of the upper chute section, and the lowermost chute section, which is fixed to the presser foot 13, is disposed downwardly, or downwardly and slighty rearwardly, i.e. toward the rear end of the sewing machine.

In accordance with the invention, the hopper 11 may be charged with a bulk supply of shank buttons. The hopper mechanism (not shown in the present embodiment) feeds the buttons to the upper chute segment with their shanks projecting outwardly through the spaced-apart metal plates 24, 240. As will be readily recognized, the plates 24, 240 are spaced from the backing plate 23 by spacer shims 37 which provide sufiicient clearance to permit the heads to descend the chute without interference.

The essence of the invention is the manner in which the construction accommodates the upward and downward movement of the presser foot.

In FIGURE 6, the hopper and chute segments are shown in the down position of the presser foot, details of the sewing machine and presser foot structure being eliminated for clarity. As will be seen from such FIGURE 6, each of the chute segments is disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the adjoining chute segments. When the presser foot is lifted by reason of the particular orientation of the chute segments one to the other, it will be seen that no lifting of the hopper occurs but, rather, a rotary movement of the hopper construction in a horizontal plane about the standard 14 is effected, the direction of such movement being indicated by the arrow, FIGURE 7.

Thus, the vertical movement of the presser foot has been translated into a purely horizontal, rotary movement imparted to the hopper, which movement has been found particularly effective in tumbling the bulk supply of buttons located within the hopper and assuring a continuous supply of oriented buttons.

Unlike the device in United States Patent No. 3,151,586, there is no telescoping of the chute segments and, hence, the likelihood of buttons becoming jammed within the chute at the overlap area is eliminated. The minor additional force required to be exerted by the presser foot lift mechanism to secure the rotation of the hopper has been found to be so small as not to be injurious to this mechanism.

Having thus described the invention and illustrated its use, what is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A button sewing apparatus comprising a button sewing machine mounted on a work surface having a presser foot aligned with the longitudinal axis of said sewing machine, said foot being shiftable in a vertical plane, a button hopper for feeding buttons to a button chute, support means mounted on said work surface rearwardly of and laterally with respect to said presser foot for carrying said hopper in elevated position with respect to said presser foot, pivot means linking said hopper to said support means and permitting relative rotation between said parts in a horizontal plane, and button guideway means linking said hopper to said presser foot for delivering buttons emerging from said hopper to said foot, said guideway means including an upper guideway segment inclined downwardly and angularly toward said sewing machine, said segment being pointed toward a position rearwardly of said presser foot, an intermediate guideway segment having an upper end connected to the lower end of said upper guideway segment and forming a continuation thereof, the upper end of said intermediate segment being disposed in the same plane as the lower end of said upper segment, said intermediate segment being forwardly inclined toward said presser foot, said upper and intermediate segments together defining an obtuse angle, said upper and intermediate segments being con nected by pivot means permitting a range of articulation between said segments to vary the value of said angle while maintaining said segments in coplanar relation, a lowermost segment extending upwardly from said presser foot, the upper end of said lowermost segment being connected to the lower end of said intermediate segment to 0 1 a 5 continuation thereot, said lower and intermediate segments being connected by pivot means permitting said last named segments to define a range of obtuse angles one with respect to the other, the upper end of said lowermost segment being disposed in coplanar alignment with and forwardly of the main body of said intermediate segment, said lowermost segment including at the lower end thereof a downwardly curved portion, the lowermost end of said segment being aligned in a genenally vertical plane whereby an upward and downward movement of said presser foot carrying said lowermost segment results in a pivotal movement of said hopper in a horizontal plane only, about said support means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,086,486 4/1963 Troll 112113 3,151,586 10/1964 Medotf et al. 112113 0 G. v. LARKIN, Exdmz'ner. 

